Era Of A New Dawn
by mkcrl120
Summary: Set at the beginning of season 6. Things might seem slightly AU to begin with, but everything will be explained as the story continues.
1. Chapter 1

Fic: Era Of A New Dawn 

Author: mkcrl120

Disclaimer: All the characters mentioned in this story belong to Joss Whedon or Mutant Enemy or some other people. I own nothing and wrote this just to get it out of my system.

Summary: Set at beginning of season 6. Things might seem slightly AU to begin with, but everything will be explained as the story continues.

Author's Note: Okay, this was an idea that I'd had about 3 years ago, it was originally going to be part of the Ultimate Slayer story-arc, but as I've given up the original idea for that and made it a lot smaller arc (in the hope that I may someday finish it). I've decided to go ahead with this anyway... it's similar to What The Hellmouth Happened in that regard... I'm gonna use both of these stories when I take a break from the major plotline that goes across most of the other story arcs. Confused..? Try being me, when I came up with all this... (where it's all for one story remember??? Man I was stupidly ambitious there...)

* * *

_Era Of A New Dawn - 1/?_

Willow was ready. She'd researched what she'd had to do, she'd obtained the necessary ingredients even going so far as to locate a local 'dealer' named Rack. Now she was facing the only part of this process she'd been regretting since she'd originally figured out which was the safest way to do it.

The only way to trust that what she'd get back **wasn't** some horrible twisted version of what she'd been hoping to achieve.

She'd realised this was something the other's probably wouldn't have agreed to. They'd have said it was unnecessary given the current situation. But she knew once it was done, they'd all be secretly happy. No matter how upset they may appear when they first find out.

_'Assuming this **is **successful.'_ She accepted, realising that the possibility of failure was another reason for keeping it from her friends. '_If this doesn't work... or it doesn't work **correctly**...'_ She let that thought drift off, refusing to allow any negativity to cloud her mind. _'I need to stay positive, I need to stay focused if this is to work.'_

This was it. Willow was finally ready.

_'Or at least, ready as I can be...'_ she admitted silently to herself.

With that final thought and one last deep breath, she drew the knife up and then slit the deer's throat.

* * *

_Later that same evening._

Willow sat alone in the graveyard next to Buffy's grave.

She surveyed her handiwork. Glancing across she made note of the candles mounted on candlesticks that had been firmly imbedded into the ground. Placing the Urn of Osiris at the place where she'd eventually sit facing her friend's grave, she finished her final preparations.

Lighting each of the wicks she quickly sat behind the urn and began the ritual.

Pouring the fawn's blood into the urn, she used the incantation that would call on Osiris.

Dipping her finger into the poor creature's blood she marked her face as the diagram in the chronicle had shown.

Ignoring the sickening reminder of her earlier deed, she continued the chant and poured the contents of the urn onto the earth within the circle.

As she finished her ritual and as the last drops of the sacrifice's blood hit the soil beneath her, she felt the initial bursts of power flowing through her.

She was hit with extreme pain as her skin became flayed seemingly unable to contain the power within. Her only thought was how it felt like there were beings crawling beneath her skin, but she strained her way past that in order to say the last line, the line that if successful would pass this power onto her deceased friend and force them back into the land of the living.

She screamed in pain, waiting for the endless torment to stop.

Suddenly she had a new feeling, not of pain this time but of something undefineable.

_'It feels like I'm going to be sick.'_ She realised, as her throat began regurgitating motions. What confused her was that her stomach appeared to be calm and unaffected.

The things inside her felt like they were definitely heading towards the blockage in her throat.

_'No!'_ she corrected herself as she struggled to breathe. _'They're **causing **the blockage.'_

Unable to control the vomitting motions for any longer, she bent double and tried to force whatever it was out of her airway. Now she wasn't as focused on Buffy's life but on the possibility of the end of her own.

_'The fawn was the sacrifice!!!'_ She silently willed herself to shout out, unable to get anything out of her vocal chords than a gurgled coughing sound.

_'Not me... not me...'_ She cried, truly scared for her life now.

And then finally it was over, the blockage had now reached her mouth and painful though it was, she was now able to expel it.

Or rather, it exited under it's own power.

_'A snake.'_ She thought in disbelief as she looked through her tear-soaked eyes. _'A living snake?'_ she realised as it began to crawl away.

Satisfied that it seemed to be over. She moved away from the sacred circle containing the urn and the still-burning candles. Once certain she was far enough away to cause no further harm to the ritual, she bent over and tried to vomit out the taste of snake that her mind was unable to ignore any longer.

_'Glad none of the others were here to see this.'_ She thought as she was sick for a second time. _'Even if they were with her... the **other **one.' _The one she could never see as anything other than a second hand replacement.

Recovering for the time-being, she casually looked over herself. At the large cuts decorating her arms, she assumed the skin on her face was in a similar state. At the pieces of vomit sticking to both her hands and to her top. She could only imagine how red and sore her eyes must be looking.

"This wasn't the welcoming committee I hoped you'd see." Willow muttered to herself, glaring at the grave as if demanding it to release her friend.

As she collapsed onto the ground, completely spent for the moment. She idly wondered how the others were doing on patrol tonight.

"Maybe they'll be finished and at the Bronze soon, that way we can both get cleaned up and show them the big surprise." She reasoned as she lay back and tried to catch her breath.

* * *

_About ten minutes later._

Her eyes opened, but nothing came into view.

She tried breathing out but her throat felt dry, sore and unused.

She could instantly tell she was lying down, and that her whole body felt like it'd been hit by something hard.

_'Possibly even a truck.'_ She joked to herself.

Everything ached, but somehow this reminded her more of immediately **after **she'd healed rather than immediately after she'd received an injury.

_'Coma..?' _She thought to herself, as she tried to analyse what her body was telling her. She couldn't thnk of anything else that could account for this much damage.

_'And I'm blind..?'_ She panicked, reaching her hands up to her face and rubbing her eyes, upset as she discovered that it didn't help her vision at all but partially relieved to discover that they were still present.

Forcing herself to be calm, she tried to analyse what she knew so far.

_'And how I know it..?'_ she wondered idly as she counted off information that she'd come up with so far.

She knew how it felt to heal from things, she knew what a truck was, she knew what a coma was and she knew she ought to be able to see.

"What else am I supposed to know..?" She screamed, the fact that her brain felt heavy and confused adding to her hysteria.

And from somewhere in the back of her brain, she knew her name. She was going to work out what else she knew about herself, when something else registered with her.

Something like the lack of sight. Something that just didn't feel **right**.

"Help?" She said aloud again.

"Help." Quieter this time. "Anyone..?"

"Hellpppp!!!!!" She screamed, adding further pain to her vocal chords.

Something was off with the sound, and now she realised it, something was off with the air too.

_'Stale... and smelly...'_ She figured, for the moment ignoring the hazy feeling in her head and how she knew these things, but instead trying to concentrate on working out what it all meant.

Instinctively she carefully reached out with her hands, letting out a small sob as her hands hit a wooden surface barely inches in front of her.

She became more hysterical as she reached around her, quickly discovering that she was completely trapped inside a wooden container of some sort.

Idly her mind tried to remember what sort of person she was, why her first thought in every circumstance was to wonder what had happened to her.

Why was she sure that she was the sort of person who might get hit by a truck, or end up in a coma, or be maimed.

Or as the current case seemed to be, possibly drugged and kidnapped.

What worried her more was the casual calmness she'd felt come over her when she'd figured the most likely explanation was that she was merely kidnapped.

"**Merely **kidnapped!!!" She screamed again before realising that this might attract her kidnappers attention.

She calmed further at the thought that maybe she wasn't blind, maybe she was locked in a dark container, or maybe the blindness was only a temporary side-affect of whatever had been used to knock her out.

Well whatever crate she was in, it didn't feel like she was being transported anywhere. And there was no sounds coming from outside the crate.

_'How can I know if I'm moving or not?'_ She silently argued with herself. Shrugging it off as unimportant, she decided she'd have to go with instincts until her memory came back. Until then she'd have to concentrate only on the facts that she did know.

Her name was Buffy.

For some reason she seemed more at ease with thinking about something being done to her, than she'd have thought was normal.

_'Surely normal people would freak out about something like this?'_ She thought, her mind catching a fleeting glimpse of a memory of a pyschology course she was sure she'd taken. And at the back of her mind was a nagging feeling that she'd really really hated the person teaching it. Realising she was going off track again, she began to revise what she did know about herself.

Her name was Buffy.

She was oddly at ease with certain aspects of this scenario.

And considering no-one had appeared at her shouts, this might be her best chance of escape.

Reaching out she began to analyse the wood in front of her, running her fingertips over the surface, desperately searching in the hope she'd be able to find a catch or a lose nail that might allow her to push this container open.

A minute or so later and she still hadn't found anything.

As time had progressed and she'd become more and more certain that this was if not airtight then damn near so. There had been no drafts or breezes anywhere that she could discover.

No holes to work her way to in order to get fresher air.

Holes that she could have possibly made bigger.

Tears had started to run free the more and more she believed she was going to die in here.

Alone.

Without any friends.

_'Did I even have friends..?'_ She asked herself. _'Anyone who could be looking for me? Possibly even coming to save me?'_

Crying further she started to get images of people that'd cared about her. She wasn't able to put names to the blurry pictures, but she was starting to get feelings associated with them.

People she cared about and who cared about her.

_'Is this my fate..?' _She wondered. _'The worst that they could think of. Locked away, possibly in an airtight container with no memory of my life.'_

Unable to do anything else and frustrated at the world she screamed as she lashed out and banged on the panel that was locking her in.

"Let me out!!!!"

She spat the foul taste out of her mouth. "Ptah."

Confused as to what it was she reached her hand up to her mouth, and discovered some small rocky crumbly fragments spread over one cheek.

Idly she reached out with her right hand to where it had struck the smooth wood.

It was now split. She could work one of her fingertips through the gap, not far but as she did she hit resistance in the form of this material.

It seeped through the slightly larger gap and more of it landed on her neck and shoulder. She reached up with her left hand and brushed it off trying to ignore the squirm factor when bits went down her top and rested on bare skin.

_'Soil.' _She panicked as she recognised what it was._ 'They buried me alive!!!'_

While that worried her slightly, she was more concerned with her inner voice. That instinctive tone that had been with her, filling her in with information on things that she felt she ought to know but didn't. It was that voice that had pointed out the blindness, that which had first noticed the echo and decided that the air tasted wrong.

The voice that now seemed happy that she wasn't dealing with concrete.

Having nothing else to trust she pulled both hands back and banged on the panel again. Splitting it further, causing more soil to fall onto her person.

_'Harder... Harder!' _The voice seemed to tell her.

Something inside her felt that it felt disgusted with her, ashamed of her actions. And for some strange reason she echoed that feeling herself.

She felt like a little girl throwing a temper tantrum.

She pulled her arm back and punched. She was pleasantly surprised to discover her fist had easily penetrated through the wood and had become elbow deep in the soil beyond.

Pulling it back she ignored the worms and other insects that seemed to fall through this much larger arm-sized hole.

Gritting her teeth she continued to punch forcibly with each arm until she was able to sit up.

Determined now, she realised it was no longer a matter of being trapped or being drugged. Even the blindness was something she'd simply have to deal with later.

Now it was just a matter of distance.

* * *

_End chapter 1  
_

* * *

_ A/N2: Yes, I know nothing looks particularly AU-ish yet - but it should by the end of chapter 2...__  
_


	2. Chapter 2

Fic: Era Of A New Dawn 

Author: mkcrl120

Disclaimer: All the characters mentioned in this story belong to Joss Whedon or Mutant Enemy or some other people. I own nothing and wrote this just to get it out of my system.

Summary: Set at beginning of season 6. Things might seem slightly AU to begin with, but everything will be explained as the story continues.

Author's Note: Okay, this was an idea that I'd had about 3 years ago, it was originally going to be part of the Ultimate Slayer story-arc, but as I've given up the original idea for that and made it a lot smaller arc (in the hope that I may someday finish it). I've decided to go ahead with this anyway... it's similar to What The Hellmouth Happened in that regard... I'm gonna use both of these stories when I take a break from the major plotline that goes across most of the other story arcs. Confused..? Try being me, when I came up with all this... (where it's all for one story remember??? Man I was stupidly ambitious there...)

* * *

_Era Of A New Dawn - 2/?_

Willow waited impatiently for something to happen.

_'There was definitely enough power in the area.'_ She summised as she'd slowly recovered from her ordeal. _'Even now, nearly fifteen minutes later, I doubt I'm up to a third of my normal power levels.'_

Taking another sip of water she swilled it around trying to fully remove the foul taste from her mouth, she slipped the plastic bottle back inside her jacket pocket.

So far she'd paced around the grave. She's even tried to reach out with her senses to discover if anything was happening. That had been the first proof that she wasn't back up to her usual levels. She'd been unable to cast even the simplest of spells.

_'Though if I'm honest, I wasn't sure how it might react in this situation. I mean normally it can distinguish between a vampire or a zombie and a normal human, and it some situations it can even spot people that have been possessed by demons or spirits, but we're not certain where in the large gap between normal and zombie that people brought back from the dead might be expected to register.'_

Now there was nothing left to do but wait.

She'd got her hopes up about ten minutes previously when the area surrounding the grave had inexplicably become very windy.

But ultimately nothing had happened.

Sighing she began pacing again and missed the ground suddenly sag in the centre of the grave. As she circled the grave she began muttering to herself.

"Don't even have a stake with me. Stupid. I mean normally, vampire... nooooo problem whatsoever, but until my magic gets it's breath back then I could be so screwed."

"Why didn't I force Oz to come with me..? I'm sure that he wouldn't be that useful in a fight against rogue bikers."

It was only when a hand came bursting out of the grave that she dropped her thought process and immediately jumped.

"Vampire!!!!" She screamed at it, and began to summon enough of a light spell in the hope that it'd confuse a newbie into thinking it was daylight.

"Yes." She stated confidently as she threw the small ball above her target.

Unfortunately it wasn't enough to confuse the target and she scrambled on the floor for one of the discarded candlesticks hoping to use it as a makeshift weapon.

By this point the person had pulled themselves completely out of the grave and was shielding their eyes from the floating glowing ball of light.

"Bu-ffy..?" Willow asked quietly. Checking around herself, she realised that she'd become disorientated while pacing and she was standing facing the grave that she'd been waiting for someone to come out of.

"Buffy." She stated more confidently. "It's you."

The figure in front of her only made one comment through a very rough sounding voice. "Bright."

"Sorry about that." Willow quickly apologised. "I just wanted to make sure it was you."

The small person in front of her nodded and made a drinking gesture. As she passed her bottle of water over, Willow was shocked at how tiny and vulnerable that Buffy seemed.

Buffy nodded as she took it off her and took a very small drink.

Willow watched as the Slayer coughed the first bit up, then seemed to relax and take a deeper swig. This one she kept down.

"You're one of my friends, right..?" Buffy asked her in a quiet hesitant voice.

"Of course I am." Willow automatically responded. "Why would you think tha-"

"Vision's not what it was." The other girl interrupted. "Eyes feel incredibly sore. Can barely make out blurs... shapes... the world's made of blurry shapes."

"Oh." Willow answered, unsure how to react to that.

"So which one are you..?" If Willow was any judge then she'd have guessed that the voice asking the question seemed to be getting stronger, more confrontational.

"Willow." She stated her name defiantly as though to answer incorrectly might be taken as a challenge to their friendship.

"You're the red blur." The other person apologetically replied.

"That's me, the red-blurry one." Willow cheerfully responded, but was in no-way ready for the next question.

"How did you find me..?"

Willow jumped at the question. _'What does she mean?'_ She thought to herself as she stammered over an explanation.

"We knew where you wer-" Willow began before being interrupted by Buffy again.

"Locator spell... I've no idea why I said that. Does that make any sense to you..?"

"Yes." Willow hesitantly answered, as she tried to examine her friend more closely and wished not for the first time she was currently capable of more than a tiny light show. "Why doesn't it mean anything to you..?

Buffy apparently chose to ignore the question and counter with one of her own. "How long have I been missing..?"

"Several months now." Willow answered carefully.

Buffy seemed more accusational now. "And this locator spell thingie couldnt find me... where was I..?"

"I'm not sure what you mean about the locator spell, it wouldn't work in this case but we... well **I **thought you might be trapped in a demon dimension. But it was impossible to confirm... there are too many of them."

Buffy nodded, apparently accepting that for the moment. "Why did they bring me back..?"

"They didn't, I did." Willow responded in a hurt tone. "They didn't mention you after the first few weeks. They were **even **conside-"

"Did you get them..?"

"Who..?" Willow asked confused.

"Whoever took me." Willow was shocked as Buffy moved directly in front of her to continue the line of questioning.

"Who took you..?" Willow repeated as she mulled the statement over in her head.

"I don't know... I thought you would." Buffy accused. "Who got me..?"

"Well, technically no-one got you... but I suppose you could blame Glory, I know I did."

* * *

_'Glory.'_

For the first time, the name reminded Buffy of something.

The name Willow had given feelings of comfort and security. But nothing had really leapt out with any passion.

_'But Glory... reminds me of something else... something stronger. Emotionally stronger.'_ Buffy reasoned out, trying to disperse some of the fog in her mind.

"Was I supposed to protect her... did she betray me..?" Buffy wondered aloud, as she realised that the protective feelings were mixed with those of nearly overwhelming levels of hate.

"Protect her!" The red blur snorted. "Hardly she- he- whatever that bitch was, it was trying to kill Dawn!"

_'Dawn!'_ Buffy realised with guilt at not remembering earlier. _'My sister Dawn.'_

_'The only family I have left now that-' _She dropped to her knees and cried as memories of her family came flooding back.

She became aware of Willow dropping to the ground next to her and holding her as she attempted to comfort her sobs. "It's okay," the taller girl soothed. "You're okay... you're back now. **I **fixed it."

Forcing herself to grieve for the loss of her mother another time, Buffy concentrated on the immediate issue. "Is Dawn okay..?" She asked, glaring at that red blur in way that she hoped demanded an answer. "Glory didn't get Dawn while I was gone did she..?"

"Glory, oh no Buffy... Glory's dead."

"Good. How..?"

"After you both took the nose dive off the tower, Xander thought he'd delay Glory by crushing her under the wrecking ball." Buffy listened carefully to the sniffles her friend made at the memory. "At that point we hadn't realised... we didn't know you'd-"

Buffy stopped and tried to remember anything about what was being described to her. She had vague images of Dawn and the tower, but none of falling off with the Goddess.

The name Xander was another she thought of with fondness. Much like she had with Willow. _'My two best friends.'_ She thought to herself. _'I **do **have friends.'_

Meanwhile, Willow had chosen to continue with her narration. "When we recovered enough to deal with her again. Xander raised the wrecking ball, while the rest of us stood ready to take her on."

"Then what..?" Buffy impatiently asked.

"She'd reverted back to him- to Ben. She was back as Ben... the battle must have taken it out of her. We're not sure exactly when she might have changed back as Xander swears he was aiming it at a woman. But basically, Ben wasn't able to survive lying under a wrecking ball."

"Thanks... for telling me, I mean." Buffy cried for a while longer.

After a few brief moments she began to wipe away the tears, "Where is Dawn, where are the others..?"

"Dealing with a biker gang that's been terrorising some of the local towns... I'm not sure what they're intending to about it, to be honest." Willow confessed.

"Will they still all meet up at my house..?" Buffy asked. "Can we go there anyway..?"

"Course they will." Willow responded enthusiastically. "If we hurry we might be able to catch them before they go the Bronze."

Buffy looked confused.

"That's where I said I was going."

"Oh." Buffy stated as they headed back towards her house.

She was more confident on her feet than when she'd first crawled out of the trap, but her eyesight still needed a lot of work.

Linking arms with Willow she was surprised when Willow brought a hand up to try and support her weight. "No." Buffy casually explained. "Not tired... well not that tired. Just can't see well."

* * *

Eventually they made it to her house. Her eyesight was definitely on the road to repair, but she was still coping with blurry people. Better defined blurry shapes, but blurry shapes all the same.

From the noise she gathered the others were already inside. Buffy smiled as she entered the house, it certainly didn't feel like she'd been away that long.

She smiled as Willow opened the door in front of her, and sneaked them into the lounge before announcing their return.

What she wasn't prepared for was what happened.

As they'd entered the house Willow called out to everyone. "Hey, can everyone come in here please."

She'd heard Xander's deep voice respond from somewhere in the direction of the kitchen. "Hey Will, we were just gonna come meet you."

She could just about make out Willow's hand move to her face. "Shussshhhhh." Willow practically hissed in her direction.

_'God, it's good to be back.'_ She thought, her mind filling with happy memories of past times in this house. She tried ignoring the images from her head, her memory was coming back in dribs and drabs but if she concentrated on it now she'd be in tears again before anyone realised she was back.

She intently scanned all the doorways waiting for a recognisable blur to enter her field of vision.

Two blurs were the first to arrive. One of which was obviously Xander, no-one else had quite the build of her best male friend.

"Hey Xan." She offered. Suddenly the blur moved rapidly toward her and before she could react she was embraced in a large powerful hug that lifted her in the air.

"How..?" Was his only question as he squeezed her close to him.

From her new vantage point head level with his, she could see where he'd left his girlfriend by the entrance. Noticing the curled dark locks, she was unable to stop the grin. _'Looks like Anya's changing hairstyles again. Just because she was a demon for a thousand years, it doesn't mean she has to try out every combination possibly available to her.'_

"Hi." She offered, waving her arm the very small amount of restricted movement available to her. "You're lucky I'm the Slayer Xan," She joked. "Otherwise this might have hurt."

"Oh god I'm sorry." He apologised as he gently lowered her to the ground, she smiled as she recognised the blurry outline of a very familiar smile.

"Where's Dawn..?" She asked hesitantly, forcing herself to hold any tears back.

"Willow went to fetch her." Xander informed her.

She turned around to check, and sure enough the Willow-shaped blur had disappeared.

"Didn't hear her go." She muttered to herself, eagerly watching the stairs waiting for her sister to arrive.

As she glanced back to face Xander, she was forcibly tackled by the brunette.

Slightly uncomfortably, she patted Anya on the back. "There, there... I didn't think we were huggers."

"Dawn." Came a muffled voice on her shoulder. "Thank you so much for what you did for Dawn... for what you've always done... it should have been **me **you know."

"Okay, I'm not sure that's exac..." She drifted off as she turned to face the stairs. The long slim blur could only belong to her sister. "Dawn..." She couldn't help her voice cracking as she said the name aloud, or the smile as she felt the arms of her younger sister wrap around both herself and Anya.

"Buffy, oh god... you're back... **how**..? I thought..." The younger girl babbled as she started to break into tears.

"Anya." Buffy stated confidently, as she tried to compose herself. "Do you mind getting out of the middle... we're trying to have a sisterly moment here..."

"Who is Anya..?" Came a question from the shorter blur accompanying Willow into the room.

Buffy squinted in his direction. The hair wasn't recognisable, but it hardly ever stayed the same anyway. "Oz..? You're back..?"

"Back from where..?" The blur asked.

Meanwhile the two women clinging to her moved backwards just slightly. Not enough to release their hold on her, but enough to make eye contact. Buffy wasn't able to really make eye contact at this distance, but she could now see their faces more clearly. Both of their faces.

"Where did Oz go..?" Dawn asked confused.

"No offence for like everything you've ever done... **especially **that last thing." Came an unexpectedly friendly tone. "But she was my sister before she was yours."

Buffy could feel the anger rising. "I go missing and you get this bitch out of prison."

The darker haired woman backed away, raising her hands in a gesture of surrender.

Stepping between the two Slayers, it was Dawn who responded first. "I think I'd know if Faith'd served time, Buffy. She is my sister after all."

* * *

_End chapter 2_

* * *

_A/N2: Told you it would be kinda AU-ish._


	3. Chapter 3

Fic: Era Of A New Dawn 

Author: mkcrl120

Disclaimer: All the characters mentioned in this story belong to Joss Whedon or Mutant Enemy or some other people. I own nothing and wrote this just to get it out of my system.

Summary: Set at beginning of season 6. Things might seem slightly AU to begin with, but everything will be explained as the story continues.

Author's Note: Okay, this was an idea that I'd had about 3 years ago, it was originally going to be part of the Ultimate Slayer story-arc, but as I've given up the original idea for that and made it a lot smaller arc (in the hope that I may someday finish it). I've decided to go ahead with this anyway... it's similar to What The Hellmouth Happened in that regard... I'm gonna use both of these stories when I take a break from the major plotline that goes across most of the other story arcs. Confused..? Try being me, when I came up with all this... (where it's all for one story remember??? Man I was stupidly ambitious there...)

* * *

_Era Of A New Dawn - 3/?_

Faith was genuinely shocked. She wasn't sure she'd ever seen this much hostility coming off her fellow Slayer. She was positive she'd never seen it directed at herself or any of her other friends.

_'Well, there was that one time with Giles.'_ Faith thought as she backed away, pulling a struggling Dawn with her.

"What??" Her younger sibling shouted finally turning to face her.

"Dawn..." Faith started slowly, trying to persuade her sister. "You need to get out of the way now... I don't think Buffy's quite herself."

"She wouldn't hurt me... she's been like a sister to us." Dawn argued back.

"Dawn." Came Xander's voice, as he stepped between Buffy and the two other women. "We don't even know if this **is **Buffy."

"Of course it's me!"

"Of course it's her!" Replied Willow at the exact same time.

"You sure, Red..?" Faith replied, feeling more confident now she had placed Dawn behind herself. "Cos it don't exactly sound like her."

Faith noted that both Buffy and Willow seemed infuriated at the accusation, but Dawn looked unsure now.

"Faith. I'm warning you, if you don't let go of my sister right now..?" Faith felt Dawn move more behind her at the threat.

"**Your **sister..?" Xander asked instinctively. "Actually, considering everything you've previously done for them **and **your recent sacrifice I'm definitely not getting in the middle of that one." He corrected himself quickly while Buffy glared at him.

In other circumstances Faith felt she probably would have been amused with her boyfriend, although thankful for the attempt she wasn't certain any attempts at levity would help this current situation.

"Exactly how **are **you back..?" Oz asked, getting to the point as usual.

"Willow found me." Buffy answered sharply, Faith noted that while the other Slayer would occasionally glance away, her gaze always returned to watching Dawn's attempts at hiding behind herself. Something that was making both Lehane sisters extremely uncomfortable.

"**Found **you..?" She heard Xander ask in his confused tone, she glanced in his direction as he moved closer to Buffy. She noted his hands were open in a gesture of peace and he was moving very slowly.

_'She's practically his best friend.'_ She reasoned to herself. _'And he's correct in the assumption that he's one of the people she's not angry at.'_

"Yes, found me." Buffy stated with confidence. "Someone took me away and yo-"

"Took you from where..?" Oz interrupted.

Behind her Faith heard Dawn sob. "It's okay, Dawnie..." Faith offered as a means of consoling the younger girl. Her own feelings about Buffy's return were happiness mixed with worry, with just a little confusion thrown in on the top. _'Based on both her current behaviour, **and **the fact that she's here at all.'_

"Graverobbers..?" Dawn cried out.

"Fucking hell." Faith let out.

"What..? No." Buffy replied, as Faith released a large sigh of relief. "But I was buried in a crate underground... Willow said you didn't know about that, that you didn't believe her."

"Willow said what..." Xander began before shrugging it off. "Buffy..." he continued carefully. Faith noted the large gulping sound as he swallowed deeply. "You died... we buried you."

Now Buffy turned to face him Faith noted. This time her eyes didn't stray back to track either hers or Dawn's movements. Faith used this time to disentangle herself from Dawn and move closer to the others.

"No!" Buffy defiantly answered, Faith noticed her squinting at Xander and assumed she was trying to determine if he was lying or not. "There was... it... the portal." Was the last words Faith heard before Buffy dropped to the ground and cried.

Faith looked confused and searched the others. "What portal..?"

Her boyfriend shrugged, and she couldn't see any signs of recognition in any of the others eyes either.

Dawn darted past her before she could react and had nearly made it to Buffy when Xander caught her. Faith nodded her thanks as Xander forcibly made Dawn stand next to him and calm down.

"She's..." Dawn began, but Xander silenced her with a finger on her lips.

"What portal?" Faith repeated.

"Is that like a light at the end of the tunnel?" Xander asked. "Not joking." He clarified at some of their looks.

"Where did you find her..?" Xander asked Willow in a serious tone. "How did you **know **she was back..?"

"I brought her back." Willow confessed quietly. Faith whipped her head round to face the red-haired witch.

"You did fucking what..?" Faith snapped. "Why..?"

"She was in trouble," Willow answered. "I thought she might be in some sort of hell dimension."

"Why would you think that?" Xander asked, his own voice cold and hard now.

"There were... I..." Willow drifted off.

"Willow." Oz added in a disapproving tone.

"But you said... when Joyce-" Dawn cried.

Faith stood up to move closer and was glad when Xander automatically put his arm around her sister's shoulders. Moving her own arm around her sibling's waist, she glanced in Buffy's direction to see how she'd reacted to talk of her mother.

_'Of the woman that willingly took two street kids in.' _Faith commented to herself, thinking back to the many times they'd all shared in this, the first thing that had felt like a real home for both of them.

"It's not the same. It wasn't the **same**." Willow argued futily.

"How wasn't it the same?" Oz enquired.

"I wouldn't have been able to do it if it was a natural death." Willow replied. "She died fighting with a Hell Goddess."

"She fell to her death." Faith countered. "Nothing supernatural about **that**."

"She said she saw a portal on the way down." Willow tried in vain.

"Something you could only know about after you brought her back!" Xander shouted.

"You **always **take her side." Willow desperately argued.

Xander sighed. "She's my girlfriend."

"Get over yourself, Red." Faith replied indifferently. "High school was a **long **time ago."

"Even longer for you, you drop-out." Willow screamed.

"Got a GED, didn't I?" Faith smirked back.

"Eventually." Willow said.

"Sorry for not leading a happy middle-class college-for-the-hell-of-it lifestyle... hope I didn't offend you any." Faith added in her most sarcastic tone.

"You don't know anything about our lives." Dawn screamed. "Stop judging us..."

"I'm not judging you Dawnie." Willow apologised.

"Erm... guys." Oz said aloud.

"Everytime you judge my sister, you're secretly judging **me**." Dawn countered. "It's not her fault that we didn't go to school until Joyce took us in... if you'd lived our life for even one minute."

"Guys." Oz repeated louder.

"Yeah." Xander asked him, releasing Dawn as she wrapped herself up in Faith's arms.

"Buffy's trying to say something." The musician nodded in the kneeling Slayer's direction.

"I dived into a portal to save Dawn. So she wouldn't have to..." Buffy commented.

Faith opened her mouth in shock. "No-one told me that... why did no-one ever fucking tell me **that**?" She accused the room. "I was a little busy with that long-tongued mother fucker, I didn't see a portal. Surely someone must have seen it."

"I was up with Dawn. I didn't see anything." Oz answered.

"Me either." Dawn replied before moving over to Buffy and offering a large hug. "I never knew that. You didn't have to do that for me..." She informed her between tears.

"Of course I did." Buffy replied, clinging tightly into the embrace. "You're my sister."

"Babe," Xander offered to Faith distracting her from the two women crouching on the floor. "I tracked them the whole way down." He swallowed again, obviously reliving the memory. "I didn't see a portal."

"The Doc opened the portal... made lots of little cuts in Dawnie." Buffy explained, Faith turned to see the blonde still clinging desperately to the girl she thought was her sister.

Faith quickly flicked her eyes in the direction of her sister, quickly receiving the reply she was silently demanding. "That Doc creature didn't do anything to me... I swear." The younger woman responded. "You got there as soon as he'd brought the knife out."

"Then me and him played patty-cake til I finished him off." Faith summed up. "The tongue, for the record, **not **sharper than the sword."

"Glory arrived after that..." Dawn began, and Faith saw her pause and look at Buffy before continuing. "She didn't have any weapons with her, and was debating if ripping my arm out of the socket and letting me bleed to death was a possible solution."

Faith heard Buffy let out a gasp. "That's when you football-tackled her off the edge... we'd all been tag-teaming against the bitch before then, and at best we were only slowing her down."

"**Wearing** her down." Xander corrected with a wink in her direction. "I'm not taking full credit for taking down a Goddess... regardless of how cool my rep would be if it **was **true."

Buffy looked at her, than at the rest of the group, then back to her.

"You're lying!!!" Was the conclusion she apparently came to. "That wasn't what happened... Faith was where she deserved to be, rotting in prison..."

"Why would she be in prison..?" Oz asked in a curious tone.

"She murdered people." Buffy stated confidently.

"Now I'm pretty sure I'd remember if I was dating a serial killer." Xander joked, Faith recognised from the desperate tone that he was hoping to disperse some of the tension.

"But it probably wouldn't bother you." Buffy turned on him. "It didn't last time."

"What..?" Xander stuttered, before returning a response with a slight edge to it. "Now I don't mean to throw stones, but I'm pretty sure that **you're** the only one in the room who's had an ex in the murderer category."

"Angel had **nothing **on Anya." Buffy threw back in his face.

"I still don't know who Anya is." Oz replied, "Was she someone that turned up while I was in Tibet?"

"He took her to the school prom, and they've been fuck buddies since she returned after running away when she heard about the Ascension."

Faith looked confused. "No idea who Anya is either, Wolfie... And other than the running away from the Ascension bit, I'm pretty sure she could be describing me and Xan. Except we started a little earlier than that."

Buffy's attention was now back on the brunette Slayer. "What did you do to them Faith... another mindswap trick, something else of the Mayor's..?"

Faith pulled Dawn away from the other Slayer, afraid in her current state she might end up doing something rash.

"What are you blaming me for..?" Faith asked, shielding Dawn with her own body. "Your friend Red there's the one with all the memory whammy mojo."

"I didn't do anything wrong." Willow defended herself.

"Except raise the **dead**." Xander replied. "And didn't we learn from the Joyce experience that sometimes they come back **wrong**."

"This is completely different." Willow stated confidently. "Look at her, this is nothing like what happened to Mrs Summers."

"Willow didn't do this, **Faith **did." Buffy stated confidently.

"How is this different?" Xander accused loudly. "She's come back wrong... true it's not mindless-zombie wrong, but... listen to her." He pointed towards the blonde Slayer. "At the very **best **you can say that she's incredibly delusional, I'm dreading to see what the worst can be when it's a Slayer doing it."

"We've already seen the results of that." Buffy pointed at Faith, trying to ram the point home. "She's always been trying to take what I've had."

"Hey, I've never asked for anything off you." Faith countered. "I've taken what I've been offered, but that was more for Dawnie's benefit than my own."

Buffy began listing points, that for some reason she thought were in her favour. "You've tried to take Spike's place... he's the one that went and faced the Doc."

"Spike..? 'Chipped-Spike that works with Angel' Spike?" Xander asked through a cough.

"You've tried to take my place as the top Slayer." Buffy continued.

"Didn't want the role, only stood up and did it as you were gone." Faith countered. "More than welcome to let you play senior Slayer again if you'd calm down."

"Yeah, you took advantage of my passing didn't you..?" Buffy confronted her directly. "What happened, they need more muscle than Spike and the Buffybot could provide so the Council got you out for them..?"

"We haven't been involved with the Council in over a year, B." Faith informed her.

"What's a Buffybot..?" Xander asked, "Cos my mind just went to a very scary place."

"Ditto." Oz agreed.

Buffy ignored the responses. "Once out, you get some other trinket of the Mayor's..?"

"Again with the Mayor comment... are we right in assuming you're talking about Richard 'Snake Barbecue' Wilkins the Third?" Xander asked, then at several looks added. "Everything else she says tends to be similar to reality but with just a hint of lunatic mixed in."

Faith glanced away from her fellow Slayer, to look at her boyfriend with raised eyebrows.

"You take my house. You take my **sister**. And you convince them I'm dead so that you can take my life???"

At the raised tone, Faith turned back just in time to see the fist heading her way. She felt the snap across her jaw and flew backwards over the sofa and against the wall. Feeling the plasterboard crack behind her as she slid down to the floor.

"Fuck. Xander's gonna have to fix that now." She replied as she lifted herself up on one elbow and felt her chin with the other hand. "You done now..?" She asked as she looked back towards the others.

Just in time to see Buffy jump over the sofa and come towards looking like she was willing to kill. "Not even close."

* * *

_End chapter 3_


	4. Chapter 4

Fic: Era Of A New Dawn 

Author: mkcrl120

Disclaimer: All the characters mentioned in this story belong to Joss Whedon or Mutant Enemy or some other people. I own nothing and wrote this just to get it out of my system.

Summary: Set at beginning of season 6. Things might seem slightly AU to begin with, but everything will be explained as the story continues.

Author's Note: Okay, this was an idea that I'd had about 3 years ago, it was originally going to be part of the Ultimate Slayer story-arc, but as I've given up the original idea for that and made it a lot smaller arc (in the hope that I may someday finish it). I've decided to go ahead with this anyway... it's similar to What The Hellmouth Happened in that regard... I'm gonna use both of these stories when I take a break from the major plotline that goes across most of the other story arcs. Confused..? Try being me, when I came up with all this... (where it's all for one story remember??? Man I was stupidly ambitious there...)

* * *

_Era Of A New Dawn - 4/?_

Dawn had been flicking her head from one part of the conversation to another, desperately trying to keep up with whatever seemed to be going on.

_'First Joyce, now Buffy...' _Dawn thought to herself as she glared at the witch. _'Won't she ever learn..?'_

Dawn was unsuccessfully trying to force down the memories of the state in which Joyce returned, the memories which no matter how often the others told them it wasn't the real her would always be the last ones she'd have of her adopted mother.

_'The only decent parental figure I've ever had... I'll ever **have**.' _She corrected herself. Thinking of her current age she realised that she was never going to have that sort of relationship with anyone else again. _'Faith tried... I mean she **really **tried... but I wanted her to be my big sister. Not my stand-in mom.'_

Now she was looking at the woman she'd come to consider her other big sister. Apart from looks, she just wasn't recognisable. First she was crying, and Dawn couldn't remember Buffy crying at anything other than her mother's funeral. Dawn remembered the day clearly, she even remembered the feeling as the vicar asked all three of her daughters to say some words on her behalf.

_'**All **three...'_ She thought back sadly, forcing herself to concentrate on the other Summers so that she wouldn't break down in tears.

_'And she's so angry.'_ Dawn thought back, trying to recall other times when she'd ever seen Buffy this way. There had been times with most of the monsters she'd seen the two Slayers face, but even then Buffy only got really angry when someone she cared about was being used against her. _'Faith tried to explain it to me,'_ Dawn reminisced._ 'How although they'd both done their best to have a normal life, and were grateful for whatever slice of normality they could achieve, they always hated it worst when it was twisted back on them. When it's people that help provide that normality get targeted simply for knowing them. **That **was something it seemed both Slayers shared.'_ It was also something Dawn never thought would be focused on them.

Her thoughts were interrupted as she caught the tail end of a Buffybot conversation between Xander and Oz.

They were seemingly horrified at whatever images their minds were bringing up, but Dawn was instead suddenly filled with hope.

_'A machine..?'_ She thought with joy. _'Could this **just **be some sort of robot-Buffy..?'_

She ignored the fleeting questions that passed through her mind, questions on why there was a robot-Buffy and who had built it and for what purpose. That particular aspect caused her to conjure up certain mental images, images she was sure had to be pretty similar to those that the two older males had been offended by.

But that didn't matter to her. She'd accidentally walked in on Xander and her sister often enough, _'There's just a point where it's pointless being prudish.'_ she thought to herself.

She had one hope now, hope that this **wasn't** her adopted sister. Hope that Willow wasn't actively trying to destroy the memories of her happiest times by bringing twisted visions of her extended family.

Turning to glare at the redheaded witch an uncomfortable thought flashed across her mind. _'What if she's doing this on purpose... I know she's always been jealous of my sister, but what if she's getting to her through **me**..?'_

It was at this point that Buffy struck Faith hard enough to throw her into a wall.

Dawn snapped her head around at the sound of wood breaking, watching as her sister slid slowly to the ground.

She heard her sister's mumbled response, and then watched in horror as Buffy followed in, everything in her body language reminding Dawn of times when she was closing in for the kill. When she was **pure **Slayer.

She moved to grab the older woman before she could inflict any more damage, she had almost reached her when large arms encircled her waist refusing to let go.

"Dawnie, no!" Came a deep sounding voice just as the arms lifted her off the ground and attempted to restrain her.

* * *

Xander felt like everything had moved in slow motion.

He'd never expected Buffy to hit Faith that hard. _'Sure she was seriously pissed,'_ he thought to himself, _'but I was thought maybe a slap across the face... not **that**.'_

He watched helplessly as he saw his best friend move aggressively towards his girlfriend. Trying desperately to think of ways that he could help slow down a Slayer until tempers were reined in.

He was running his mind through things he knew could slow them down coming up blank on each occasion. _'Slayer serum; no use, the Watchers never trusted us with any. Tranquilliser gun; hasn't been used since Oz gained control of his problem, stored somewhere at my apartment anyway.'_

Then he saw movement.

Stopping a Slayer was beyond him, but a Slayer's sister... that he could do.

Moving quickly to intercept he caught Dawn and moved her away from the struggle as it begun again.

Xander winced as he saw the first blow strike the darker haired Slayer, driving her back to the ground.

The smaller girl in his arms began to twist and struggle in an attempt to get free. He tightened his grip and moved towards the centre of the room.

"It's not Buffy." Came the younger girl's high pitched voice. "It's a robot-Buffy trying to trick us." She practically screamed at him.

"Not Buffy." His brain tried to focus on the possibility. "**What **Robot Buffy..?" He asked, as he tried to ignore the digging pains in his shins as she now tried to kick free.

"Her!!!" Dawn repeated loudly.

Xander's eyes flicked back to the two Slayers, cringing as he noticed the fight was very one-sided. "Can't you do **anything**..?" He asked sharply. "Seperate them or something."

He felt a little better as he watched the witch flinch at his tone. Relief starting to grow as she clasped her hands together and made the seperate gesture while mumbling something he barely recognised as Latin.

That relief quickly faded as the result was no more than a brief breeze that barely moved their hair.

"I'm spent." Willow attempted to explain in an apologetic tone.

Ignoring anything further she might say, he quickly turned to the musician. "Any ideas..?" He asked hopefully.

"Tranq gun's at our place." Oz replied firmly. "Assuming it still even works."

"If it even works on a cyborg." Dawn countered.

"That's a fifteen minute round trip **if **the roads are clear." Xander reasoned, before turning to the youngest girl who'd been watching the fight and was looking more and more distressed. "Haven't you got anything here..?"

"Nothing non-fatal." She replied, refusing to tear her eyes away from what was in front of her.

"We're not giving them weapons, it's bad enough as it is." He responded quickly. "How long til your powers are back..?" He asked Willow.

"Hour or so, tops..." Willow guessed.

"Our place seems like the fastest..." Oz stated, apparently also having gone over other possibilities in his own head.

"Do you even know where it is..?" Xander asked, struggling to picture the last place he had seen the device. Not at all happy when the werewolf shrugged back in response.

"Okay..." Xander turned to see Oz contemplating something, keeping silent and raising an eyebrow for the other man to continue. "Old school magic."

"What..?" Xander asked confused.

Watching the werewolf turn towards the witch, he dragged himself and the girl he thought of as a sister over to them.

"Old school... in fact back at school." The werewolf explained. "Before you got seriously into the arts, back when we were dating..."

"Yes..?" Willow replied, obviously also trying to think of what he referred.

Oz continued, "It was all potions and calling aid off of others..."

Xander recollected that part of school as well, "Amy did something similar that time I... well, **that **time."

"Magic box..?" Dawn asked, hope now in her voice. "Maybe something to short circuit her."

"I might still have something upstairs." Willow confessed.

Ignoring the implications of that, Xander merely nodded. Watching as the witch ran upstairs to the room she was currently staying in.

* * *

Oz tried not to think about it, but his eyes kept flicking back to the scene before him.

_'Two Slayers going head to head in an attempt to kill one another. I bet the Watcher's Council would have loved to see this.'_ He thought absently.

_'Well, Wesley might have been...'_ He thought back to the younger watcher as he was during his brief stay in Sunnydale. _'Giles would have been going crazy about now. Much like we are...'_ He reasoned as he watched Faith become airborne for what felt like the dozenth time.

His eyes flicked briefly over to Dawn as the darker haired Slayer cracked into the wall a good ten feet from where she'd been kicked.

He noticed Dawn flinch involuntarily as she witnessed the painful-looking landing, and saw the tears come freely from her eyes as her sibling spat blood out onto the carpet.

He remembered a conversation with Xander when they'd first shared a two-bedroomed apartment together; him because he'd just returned from Tibet and didn't feel comfortable moving back into the dorms where Willow was currently sharing a room with her new lover, a fellow witch named Tara. Meanwhile Xander had simply been desperate to get out of his parent's basement.

The two young men had been sort of friends. Not really close, but linked due to being the only two males in their little group. _'Well, other than Giles... and that Riley guy. But they were both different circumstances.'_ If they were honest with themselves they hadn't really even attempted to be friends since the Willow-incident back in the final year of high school, they were more acquaintances if anything at all. But with their new living arrangements forcing them to converse more, they found maintaining that 'safe' distance was impossible, and if it was to work then they'd simply both have to make an effort.

It was on one of those nights, that Xander had confessed that he found the thought of the two Slayers sparring in skimpy training-appropriate outfits to be extremely arousing. Going so far as to mention that not only did Faith know about it, she used to tease him mercilessly about it. From taking it and using it for some bedroom fantasies, the likes of which Oz could hear all too easily through the thin apartment walls; up to making crude comments while she was actually sparring with Buffy. From the other Slayer's reactions at Xander's blushing, he figured Faith had told her the full deal.

_'Be careful what you wish for..?' _Oz figured, noticing that Xander had a continuous look of concern on his face as he desperately tried to come up with a solution to this mess.

Oz glanced back upstairs. Automatically expanding his senses allowing him to freely hear Willow's muttered mumblings as she rifled through old virtually abandoned boxes.

Shutting them down to more normal levels, he glanced back at where Xander's grip on Dawn was so tight that he was sure that if she'd be sore when this was over.

Figuring that they couldn't really wait any longer, he decided to step in the middle of it.

"Hey." He said in a confident tone, walking between the gap where the two Slayers were temporarily seperated. "You're scaring your sister." He stated, hoping that while as delusional that this new Buffy seemed to be, from what he'd heard so far she was at least as protective of Dawn as the other Buffy had been.

Unfortunately the wrong Slayer listened to him. Oz watched as Faith turned to her sister, up until this point she'd only really being attempting to defend herself. _'Possibly as shocked as we are by Buffy's intensity.'_

But Buffy hadn't even paused, as she moved towards Faith with murderous intent in her eyes Oz quickly realised that Faith hadn't taken her eyes off a struggling Dawn and would never see this particular blow coming.

_'Shit this is gonna hurt.'_ Oz thought as he dived to intercept the two-fisted swing at the distracted Slayer. Somehow managing to get his body, and more accurately his jaw, into the path of the oncoming strike.

* * *

_End chapter 4_


	5. Chapter 5

Fic: Era Of A New Dawn 

Author: mkcrl120

Disclaimer: All the characters mentioned in this story belong to Joss Whedon or Mutant Enemy or some other people. I own nothing and wrote this just to get it out of my system.

Summary: Set at beginning of season 6. Things might seem slightly AU to begin with, but everything will be explained as the story continues.

Author's Note: Okay, this was an idea that I'd had about 3 years ago, it was originally going to be part of the Ultimate Slayer story-arc, but as I've given up the original idea for that and made it a lot smaller arc (in the hope that I may someday finish it). I've decided to go ahead with this anyway... it's similar to What The Hellmouth Happened in that regard... I'm gonna use both of these stories when I take a break from the major plotline that goes across most of the other story arcs. Confused..? Try being me, when I came up with all this... (where it's all for one story remember??? Man I was stupidly ambitious there...)

* * *

_Era Of A New Dawn - 5/?_

Realising that she wasn't going to persuade the others of Faith's deception, Buffy accepted that it left her with only one option.

_'Take her down and then force her to drop the pretense.'_

"You take my house. You take my **sister**. And you convince them I'm dead so that you can take my life???" Buffy accused Faith.

Taking advantage of Faith's distraction, she moved quickly, making sure that her first strike counted.

Satisfied that she'd made a good connection, she watched as the brunette Slayer crashed heavily into the wall opposite. As the other Slayer slid down the wall, Buffy noted her eyesight was clearing up, she didn't have perfect vision back yet but there had been a constant improvement since she'd woken up.

Following her opponent's path she cleared the sofa with a casual leap, and moved in for the kill.

Hearing some mumbled response mid-jump, she concentrated on Faith's next comment, idly wondering what lies she could be telling now.

"You done now..?" Came the flippant response.

Buffy landed a few feet from the downed Slayer, her dress billowing around her as she did so. "Not even close." She replied through tightly clenched teeth.

As she moved towards her opponent she caught a blur in her peripheral vision, unable to identify anything further than a flash of colour she braced herself for a possible attack and was relieved when none came.

She smiled as she figured that maybe the others had the good sense to stay out of this one, closing in for the kill she made a note to keep Faith as close to central in her eyeline as she could, as that was by far the clearest image.

_'Don't wanna be caught unaware.'_ She figured as she threw her second punch before the other woman had managed to fully raise herself onto her feet.

She felt her left fist connect with the side of her opponent's head, Faith landing heavily back on one elbow.

Buffy threw a couple of follow on punches, not giving Faith chance to do anything other than raise her arms in self-defence.

_'I'm not back yet.'_ Buffy quickly summised, her moves still feeling slight sluggish. _'Whatever **did **happen to me...'_ She drifted off, catching the fleetest glimpse of a memory of something she couldn't quite define. _'Whatever it was it took a lot out of me.'_

Continuing her barrage of body blows, Buffy came to a rather startling conclusion. _'If Faith gets a chance, before I'm fully recovered... she could probably wipe the floor with me.'_

Refusing to let any such opportunity arise, Buffy changed tactic. Grabbing Faith by one arm and using her other to grasp tightly onto Faith's T-shirt, Buffy pulled Faith bodily into the air and threw her back over the sofa into the centre of the room.

Using the sofa as leverage she vaulted over it, kicking out at the stunned Slayer as she did so.

The sofa tipped over, Faith went flying across to the other wall, and Buffy followed the sofa partway to the ground heading in the opposite direction to the other Slayer.

Cursing herself for taking her eyes off the other woman, Buffy quickly righted herself and turned back to face the challenge.

This time however Faith was also almost back on her feet.

Realising she couldn't let that happen Buffy made a dive across the distance separating the two of them.

Although by the time she'd got there Faith was still on one knee, she became frustrated as Faith seemed to casually catch both of her wrists as they descended towards the other woman's throat.

"Unnhhhh." Buffy heard Faith grunt in response, as Buffy attempted to use her superior position to force her opponent back to the ground.

"Need to... calm... down... B..." Faith struggled to get out as the two Slayers tried to physically get advantage.

Suddenly a freak breeze managed to catch both of them off guard. Buffy blinked off the affects as she watched her opponent's hair fall back into a relaxed place.

"So... you can... tell... more lies... **F**???" Buffy countered as she lifted one of her legs and kicked out at Faith's chest as hard as she could.

Faith flew back into the solid outerwall behind her. This one didn't crack from the force, instead Faith bounced off it back to her knees. One hand on the floor balancing herself, the other across her torso idly rubbing the spot where Buffy's foot had connected.

"Never lied..." Buffy heard her try to explain.

_'I don't have time for this.'_ Buffy reasoned, dragging the other woman away from the wall and delivering a crushing blow between her counterpart's shoulder blades with her right elbow.

"Fuck!!!" The darker haired Slayer spat out as she dropped flat to the floor.

Buffy attempted to follow it up with a punch, but Faith had managed to roll out of the way. Buffy ignored the tingle in her knuckles as she heard the floorboard snap with the force of her blow.

As Buffy pulled her fist out of the dented carpet, she tracked her opponent, keeping her eyes focused on the brunette as she attempted to scramble away.

As Buffy moved to follow her, Faith turned quickly grabbing her in a wristlock and flicking her over so that for the first time Buffy was on the defensive.

Buffy felt herself land heavily back first on the hard floor. Wincing in anticipation she was shocked to discover that Faith seemed to content to use superior leverage to hold her down.

_'Thought she'd have taken my wrist right off.'_ Buffy wondered as she tried to find a way to break free, Faith apparently only taking advantage of this turn-around in order to catch her breath back.

"This it..?" Buffy questioned the younger woman. "Looks like you went soft in prison, Faith."

"I've never **been **to prison!" Faith shouted back, momentarily distracted. "I tried to explain tha-"

She was cut off, as Buffy scissored one of her legs around Faith's neck and managed to successfully roll Faith away, freeing herself from the wristlock as she did so.

Buffy got to a seating position and used this to kick Faith over again, causing further disorientation as she continued her roll.

Getting to the standing position first, Buffy was able to prepare to put as much power into the next kick as she could. Waiting for the perfect opportunity, she paused as Faith rolled to a stop.

Faith lifted herself onto her hands and knees, and as the downed Slayer shook her head clear of any dizziness Buffy made her move. Taking a single solitary step, she managed to get full swing out of her right leg, connecting her foot perfectly with Faith's ribs.

Having not seen it coming, and being able to offer little in the way of defense Faith took the full force of the blow in her side, the sheer power behind it managing to lift her a clear five feet off the ground and send her flying back into the wall she'd just previously hit.

Buffy watched satisfied as the other girl bounced off the wall and landed on a nearby table, crushing it instantly beneath her.

"**Now **are you done..?" Faith asked her while spitting out blood and wrapping both arms tightly around her ribs.

Buffy just continued to stare, desperately trying to ignore the sound of crying coming from her sister somewhere behind her.

_'Crying for this bitch...'_ Buffy thought to herself, _'Crying because she fell for Faith's **trick**!'_

Knowing that although it was futile, she tried to twist herself enough so that her sister was also in view. But her eyesight hadn't recovered enough yet, she couldn't let Faith stray from her main field of vision.

_'Never know what that murderer might try._' Buffy decided, having to accept that the slightly coloured blur almost in the left hand corner of her vision would have to do.

_'Can't turn away until I know Faith's down for good.' _Buffy reasoned internally. _'I'm not up to scratch, and none of the other's would stand a chance at taking her out... even if they did shake themselves out of whatever she did to them.'_ She finished bitterly.

She scrutinised carefully as the dark haired Slayer used the wall to help herself get to her feet. Carefully stepping over the remains of the small sidetable that her mother had used to store photo's on.

Wishing she had her full eyesight back she turned her head to the mess on the floor, trying to make out which photos she may have destroyed while dealing with the dark Slayer. Hoping there was nothing of her mother, nothing irreplaceable. Meanwhile she was always keeping Faith as central as possible, _'Everything else is secondary... until I've got this Faith mess sorted.'_

From somewhere on her left Oz made a comment about Dawn, Buffy wanted to turn, to somehow comfort the girl, but she didn't trust the other Slayer.

What enraged her was that Faith had no such restrictions, Faith turned to Dawn and although Buffy couldn't make out the expressions from this distance she knew that the other Slayer was trying to wheedle her way further into Dawn's good books. _'Making herself out to be the good Slayer.'_ Buffy screamed internally.

Unable to resist further she made her move, taking two large strides she accelerated towards her opponent both fists raised to deliver what she was hoping would be a incapacitating blow.

As she moved she became aware of the blur in the corner of her eye also moving, moving to intercept. Buffy willed herself to speed up, to get this strike in first. This would allow herself some breathing room so she could discuss what was happening with the others.

She knew without doubt that on a normal day, none of them could have got their first. But this wasn't a normal day, and the fight with Faith had already taken a lot out of her.

And then suddenly, somehow, Oz was in her way.

And there was no way she could retract her swing in time.

"Crack!!!"

The sound seemed to hover in the air, that in itself would have been sickening enough; but Buffy also had the feeling of Oz's jaw breaking as her hands made contact.

Of a jaw just snapping under the force.

Unsure if she'd broken it, or merely dislocated it. All the fight left Buffy as she finished off her swing.

Except this time, her eyesight was glued to where Oz snapped his head around. Of him dropping to the ground, everything seemed to be moving in slow-motion.

She still hadn't finished her range of motion, she was aware that Oz still hadn't landed properly yet, but he'd gone down heavy. _'The landing itself could cause even **more **injuries!!!'_ Buffy thought as she realised he wasn't rolling into the fall, instead dropping like a sack of potatoes.

In the background she could see Faith moving towards her, as the other girl got closer it seemed that there was no anger in Faith's face only concern.

_'A lack of anger cos she doesn't care about Oz..?' _Buffy was unable to stop the unbidden thought, _'Or because she **is **concerned, and realised that anger's what got us here..?'_

Lifting her right arm, she managed to steer Faith's attempts to get her away. Pushing the dark-haired Slayer away somewhere behind her.

Turning to the other side, she braced herself for what she might find on her sister's features.

But she was facing away from her, at first Buffy wondered if she'd crossed a line so bad her sister wouldn't ever forgive her. But it seemed it was Xander that was physically turning the girl away and pushing her in the direction of the other sofa.

_'That's right...'_ She figured, as she turned towards the fallen musician. _'Don't let Dawn see until we know how bad it is...'_

Moving towards Oz, who was now kneeling on the floor, she heard Faith shout "**No!!!!**" loudly.

"I'm not gonna hu-." Buffy began. "I mean I never intended to hurt him." She tried to explain turning back into the direction of Xander and her sister.

Except now her sister was climbing over the back of the other sofa, it beginning to topple as she did so. And Xander was charging directly at her.

"I'm not goi-" She began, but the wind was knocked out of her as a powerful arm struck across her chest, lifting her off the floor and away from the injured party.

"I wasn't..." She tried to explain, refusing to acknowledge the instincts that screamed out how she could take the carpenter down from this position.

Except it didn't feel like an attack, for one thing he was still running and carrying her. Buffy idly wondered where he'd learned to football tackle like that, positive that the only sport she'd ever seen him play properly was a brief stint on the swim team.

From this vantage spot, her attention returned to the fallen musician who seemed to be getting back to his knees.

At first she was elated, maybe she hadn't caught him quite as well as she'd initially feared. But then she saw his jaw, and even though she couldn't make out exactly what was wrong, she was pretty sure that one part seemed to be sticking out at an incorrect angle.

'How is he stil-' She began, watching as Oz continued to rise, now twisting slightly in her direction.

She started to make an apologetic face, hoping he could forgive her, but then she noticed something else.

That jaw seemed to be moving.

_'God...'_ She thought sickly, horrified at what she'd done.

Then something unexpected happened, for just the briefest fractions of a second she would have sweared Oz had grown a full beard.

And then he was moving towards her, far faster than she'd thought possible. All movements accompanied by a very threatening growl.

Head now completely turned into that of a werewolf. Powerful fur-covered shoulders trying to rip their way out of his clothing.

But his lower half, _'In fact everything below his chest'_ she noticed was still completely human.

The werewolf snapped at her. Xander was still carrying her as fast as he could but she realised that once the transformation was complete there would be no way that Xander could outrun this predator.

Instincts kicking in, she quickly drew in her legs, making sure all parts of her were out of range. The sudden movement of which, unbalanced Xander and sent them both toppling towards the ground.

The fall seemed in slow motion, she braced herself for the landing, with Xander positioned how he was there was no way for her to roll out of it.

Oddly however, the wolf didn't seem to be getting closer, and while she had expected a quick follow-through, and she'd been trying to think of a way to untangle her left hand which was currently crushed between her own and Xander's bodies in an attempt to fend the creature off.

As she hit the floor, she was shocked to watch the creature seem to shrink before her eyes, whilst doing so changing shape to return to a more normal Oz-shaped person.

She lay on the ground semi-beneath a sprawled out Xander who was rapidly getting his breath back.

Her eyes flicked to the over-turned sofa at the far end of the room. Dawn could just about be seen peaking her head over the top.

Faith was climbing out the corner she'd instinctively curled up in, heading in Dawn's direction.

Xander rolled off of her attracting her attention as he did so, lying on his back next to her as he sighed loudly. "Phew!"

Wearily she turned her eyes back to where Oz was standing over them. She was midly amused as he rubbed his jaw and let out a **very **casual "Ow."

"What were you thinking..?" Xander asked as he turned her way, neither of them making any effort to get off the floor. "Oz doesn't have **that **much control when he's in wolf-mode."

"Even less when I've been hurt..." Oz informed her.

"If he's calm before it happens and if **he **consciously initiated the change, then you might get him to sit... and maybe, well definitely, look scary." Xander informed her.

"Yeah... the Wolf isn't exactly a trained pet." Faith added from the other side of the room, where her and Dawn were straightening the furniture.

"But **you **should have known that." Oz voiced for the group.

Buffy spotted Willow as she ran into the room some random things in her hands, her eyes darting all over the place. "What happened..?" The witch asked in a very curious tone.

* * *

_End chapter 5_

* * *

A/N2: Hope everyone finds this acceptable. Readers of my other stories will know I don't do that many fight scenes. I find they work on TV/Film well, but in books (fanfic or published) I can find them very hit or miss. This is something I still need to work on... hope you liked it anyway. 


	6. Chapter 6

Fic: Era Of A New Dawn 

Author: mkcrl120

Disclaimer: All the characters mentioned in this story belong to Joss Whedon or Mutant Enemy or some other people. I own nothing and wrote this just to get it out of my system.

Summary: Set at beginning of season 6. Things might seem slightly AU to begin with, but everything will be explained as the story continues.

Author's Note: Cancelled original author's note... it was only a rant anyway, if you're really interested it's in the first few chapters.

* * *

_Era Of A New Dawn - 6/?_

Willow reached under her bed and pulled out her old stash of magical items, pushing down the brief memory of when she'd finally stored them away. _'Tara.'_ She thought sadly to herself, wondering how she'd let it go so wrong.

Tearing the cardboard box open, she began to quickly examine the contents.

"What's this for... and this... who uses these anymore... was I really this **pathetic**..?" She mumbled to herself, thinking back to how much of an amateur she'd been before meeting Tara.

Another loud crash was heard from downstairs and Willow imagined she could feel the walls move with the impact.

Shaking her head she continued to form mental lists of what she could perform with the ingredients in front of her.

_'None of this crap could ever really take a Slayer down.'_ She realised, picking out the pieces she figured would give her their best chance.

Suddenly a distinctive growl caught her ears, "**Oz!**" was her only thought as she ran towards the staircase, her fingers clasping tightly around what she desperately hoped would be enough.

She took the stairs two at a time, resisting the urge to swear as one of the items she was carrying slipped out of her hands, bounced once on the steps and smashed into hundreds of pieces as it hit the floor.

Finally reaching the bottom of the stairs, she turned towards the living room scared to discover what might await her.

As she approached the room she noticed Faith and Dawn returning the sofa to an upright state, entering the room she took in the sights in front of her. Buffy and Xander resting on the ground, seemingly out of breath. Oz idly standing there with the neck of his t-shirt badly torn away making it about twice the size it ought to be, one of his hands casually kneeding the back of his own neck as he spoke to Buffy.

"What happened..?" She asked as she glanced around the room, examining the damage.

"Buffy... 's calmed down now?" Oz seemed to ask the newly resurrected Slayer.

Willow's eyes flicked instinctively towards the other woman who was still lying on the floor as she nodded in agreement.

"Good." Faith commented attracting the Witches attention. "Don't think the house could have taken much more punishment."

"What about you..?" Dawn asked her sister, Willow only now noticing the bruises that the brunette Slayer was displaying.

"Glory hit harder than that." Faith attempted to reassure the youngest person present as Willow looked away from the sisterly scene.

"Least no-one got **stabbed**." Buffy stated in a confident tone.

"Or staked, or axed, or bitten, or..." Xander continued, as he forced himself to his feet. "Really glad weapons weren't involved at all."

"I meant..." Buffy began but trailed off.

"If they're not **silver **then I'm not worried about it." Oz replied.

"No..." Buffy tried again, before sighing and appearing to give up. She quickly pulled herself up, smiling at Xander's offer of a hand.

"You hit Oz..?" Willow asked.

"Not **intentionally**." Buffy replied automatically as Faith chipped in.

"Thanks Red. Love you too." She finished in her most sarcastic tone.

Willow ignored her response, refusing to turn around as she knew both Lehane women would be glaring at her.

* * *

"Okay... can we just confirm everything is calm now... before I start trying to fix this place up..?" Xander asked as he began picking up bits of broken table. "Well, this is a goner."

"Never thought I'd have to say this to **you**." Faith began. "But truce..? Not that I actually know what we're trucing for."

"Hopefully we'll find out." Xander gave up and tossed the pieces back into the pile on the floor. "As we might have expected Buffy seems to have come back wrong." He stated, staring at Willow.

"I'm not wrong, she's wro-" Buffy began, instinctively pointing at Faith. Pausing while she forced herself to calm down, she took a deep breath and started again. "This is **all **wrong. None of this is **right**. Faith shouldn't be here. **Oz **shouldn't be here. Dawn's **my **sister."

Dawn chipped in. "She's a robot."

"I'm **not **a robot." Buffy replied, shocked that her sister would accuse her of such a thing. "Why would you even think that..?"

"You're the one that brought it up." Dawn mentioned. "That Buffybot thing... ."

"I've got a horrible feeling I **know **what a Buffybot is." Xander confessed, hoping to distract them from their argument.

"The Buffybot knew what she was." Buffy tried to explain.

"How do you know you're not a Buffybot who's been programmed to think she's the real thing." Dawn countered with a confident look on her face.

"She doesn't smell like a robot." Oz stated outright. "It smells like Buffy, so I don't think it's a demon pretending to be her either."

"Firstly, eugh..." Xander began. "And secondly double-eugh, cos when you say '**smells **like a robot'... you do remember what that April thing was used **for**..?"

"Who is April..?" Dawn asked.

"Okay..." Faith paused before looking between Xander and Oz. "I'm really glad that the Slayer setup doesn't come with a sense of supersmell."

"That wasn't what I was referring to." Oz shrugged. "But that smell does linger for a lot longer than any of you think it does."

"What are you all tal- oh, eugh!!!!" Dawn said, finally figuring it out. "Over-share! **Over-share!**"

"And thanks for that little insight." Xander said, smirking as he glanced in Oz's direction. "So you think Warren might have also built a robot-you..?"

"He was forced to by Spike." Buffy explained.

"So the Buffybot's in LA..?" Faith asked.

"Wouldn't Angel destroy it? Or maybe he- I've just made the images **worse**." He confessed to the group.

"No." Buffy began, forcing herself to ignore Xander's last comment. "Look if **I'm** not wrong and **you're** not wrong then there's only one answer. And alternate dimensions aren't my thing. We need Anya..." She drifted off.

"Alternate dimensions..?" Willow immediately asked.

"If she doesn't get it I'm giving in now." Xander sighed.

"**Alternate **dimensions." Buffy replied confidently.

"And you think you and this Anya person are from one of them..?" Oz mused.

"They're her strong point not mine, she used to create them." Buffy explained.

"I used to date someone that **created **alternate dimensions..?" Xander asked confused. "Instead of Faith..?"

"You're just not destined to meet a nice normal girl." Oz teased.

"So did this Anya come over **too**..?" Xander recognised the tone as Dawn challenged the story being presented.

Giving her a look that asked her to be patient, he smiled when she nodded in silent response.

"I have no idea." Buffy confessed. "If she isn't here, then we need to get Giles to do some research for us."

"Giles!!" Faith coughed. "You want to get help from **Giles**..?"

"That must be proof she's not from round here." Oz stated.

"Or that she's got faulty-programming." Dawn muttered too low for most people to hear.

"What's wrong with Giles..?" Buffy asked, her voice visibly showing her growing concern. "You have **heard **of Giles, right?"

"Yeah." Willow began. "Giles is in this reality."

"She's figured it out." Xander needlessly informed the group.

"But in this reality he went to LA, with Spike and Tara." Willow stated, obviously upset when mentioning that last name.

"So who's the Watcher..?" Buffy asked desperately.

"We don't have one." Faith responded. "Don't **need **one either."

"We made a deal with them to get information on Glory." Buffy explained.

"Er. No **we **didn't." Xander explained back.

"Then how did you know she was a Hell-Goddess..?" Buffy asked.

"We... well we..." Xander began.

"...tortured one of her demons." Dawn finished for him.

"Yeah that." Xander finished lamely. "Not one of our best moments."

"Dawn was in danger!" Faith stated. "He had it coming to him. Once that snake thing had chosen Dawn then there was no going back."

"Okay, that happened where I was too." Buffy agreed.

"That showed the Goddess who the sacrifice had to be." Willow explained. "Pre-destiny and all that."

"It's okay guys I **know**..." Buffy smiled at them.

"We know you know." Xander laughed. "We just **told **you."

Buffy tried to reassure them. "No, I know that Dawn's the Key."

"I'm a what..?" Dawn asked. "Is this some insult I've never heard before."

"She's not in danger now that Glory's dead." Buffy stated confidently, while grinning at them. "I know like you all do, that she used to be a dimensional Key."

"Is she accusing me of some sex-thing that I don't understand yet..?" Dawn turned to the others looking for confirmation.

"If she is I've never heard of it either." Faith confessed before asking. "She used to be a what..?"

* * *

_End chapter 6_

* * *

_A/N: Hope that'll spark a little interest_


	7. Chapter 7

Fic: Era Of A New Dawn 

Author: mkcrl120

Disclaimer: All the characters mentioned in this story belong to Joss Whedon or Mutant Enemy or some other people. I own nothing and wrote this just to get it out of my system.

Summary: Set at beginning of season 6. Things might seem slightly AU to begin with, but everything will be explained as the story continues.

Author's Note: Cancelled original author's note... it was only a rant anyway, if you're really interested it's in the first few chapters. More interesting news might be that I now have a LJ account - it's mkcrl120 followed by the usual - be gentle with me.

* * *

_Era Of A New Dawn - 7/?_

Faith stared at her fellow Slayer, at the woman who'd become like a second sister to her.

"The **Key**." She heard Buffy repeat slowly as if explaining to people with learning difficulties.

Faith bit back her initial response, she'd heard similar tones from Willow before during their arguments.

"Right... we've all got the Key part." Xander began. "But none of us know what the Key part actually refers to."

"Dawn's a dimensional Key!" Buffy exclaimed, obviously hoping that would persuade the group.

"Does **anyone **know what she's talking about..?" Faith turned and asked the rest of the group. At the blank looks she turned back to face her recent opponent. "**What **is a dimensional Key..?"

"It's what Glory needed to return home." Buffy tried desperately. "That's **why **she was after Dawn."

"Okay right." Willow answered quickly, obviously thinking she'd understood it now. "We know Glory needed a sacrifice to open a portal to her own world. So in this process, the sacrifice - in this case Dawn - is known as the Key..?"

"Okay, I can cope with that." Faith replied, hoping to reassure her sister. "Dawn was the Key because Glory kidnapped her and attempted to..."

"No!" Buffy interrupted. "**Dawn **is the Key! That's why she was after Dawn."

"For the sacrifice." Xander offered with a puzzled look on his face. "But now Glory's gone, Dawn's not at risk of being a Key anymore."

"**No!**" Buffy answered forcibly. "**Dawn's** always been the Key!"

"So it's a criteria thing?" Oz tried. "She's one of several girls/teenagers/people that fit some of the criteria... and she just ticked **more **boxes than others?"

Faith turned to her sister, "Probably like what happens with Slayers. Guess we're just unlucky. In a genetic sense."

"With our parents what else did we really expect..?" Dawn joked, moving towards her sister.

"Dawn's the Key." Buffy tried again. "She's always been the Key... she's been the Key since **before **she was born... she was probably the Key before the **Earth **was born."

The others all exchanged glances, faced with a roomful of blank faces Faith was happy when her boyfriend ended the silence.

"So this is a after-life typ-"

"Prior-life." Oz corrected.

"Full-on before, during and after life eternity-soul thing." Xander finished.

"**She **came back wrong." Dawn answered. "I'm normal... I've been kidnapped before-"

"Many many times." Faith teased with a wink.

"I'm not anything... she has no proof." Dawn clang to that thought. "Where's her proof, eh? You can't just go accusing people of things with no proof. That's not how things work!" She finished defiantly.

"Okay..." Buffy thought to herself. "The Watchers had some information regarding the Beast and the Key."

"What beast..?" Willow asked, casting a sideways glance at Oz. "Is this about Dawn's crush..?"

Dawn went red in the face, Faith casually caught her as she lunged towards the witch.

"What crush..?" Buffy asked. "Dawn likes Xander."

"What..?" Dawn asked, momentarily distracted from her attempts to free herself from her sister's strong grip. "Ewwww... no. I don't. Seriously no. Ewwww."

"Thanks Dawn, tell me how you really feel." Xander joked.

"No... that'd be like... having a crush on a brother... that's just wrong." Dawn shuddered at the thought.

"Don't worry about it babe." Faith smiled in his direction. "Least it's cos she sees you as family, and not cos she's seen you naked."

"Oh thanks." Xander feigned being upset.

"You've seen Xander naked..?" Buffy exclaimed, glaring in their direction.

Faith smirked at the outraged tone in Buffy's voice.

"Not on purpose." Dawn explained. "**They **have no shame."

"It's my room." Faith countered. "If you're going to try steal my clothes at least try and find out if I'm alone in there."

"There was one time where you didn't even stop-" Dawn began.

"Let's talk about something else." Xander pleaded at the exact same time as Oz reminded them.

"Maybe we should concentrate on this beast thing... and to be fair it's not the most PC term, is it?"

"It doesn't refer to you." Buffy explained. "**Glory **was the Beast... the Beast is the name she had before Glorificus."

"Okay... that's news to me." Xander offered, glad to have changed topic.

"The Watchers had all this information." Buffy tried to explain. "You were supposed to get it off them."

"The Watchers are in L.A." Faith informed her. "Learn to deal."

"The real you likes them **less **than we do." Dawn stated confidently. "Can I just say one more time... Came. Back. Wrong."

"Dawn." Xander firmly said her name.

"Lose the attitude." Faith backed him up.

"Not my fault." Dawn whined. "I love Buffy like a sister. I loved Buffy. This **isn't** her."

"Dawn." Both Xander and Faith repeated again.

"Anyway to prove any of this without involving the Council..?" Oz questioned.

"I don't know... there was a spell that made me see the truth." Buffy suddenly answered with enthusiasm. "It showed how Dawn being here was part of the monk's spell."

"Okay that's a new one." Faith cut in. "What monks..?"

"The monks that put Dawn into human form." Buffy automatically replied.

The group exchanged blank looks again.

Xander shrugged, "I'm back to being lost."

"It's never ending." Dawn replied. "It's just a made-up story of me becoming less and less human. Our Buffy wouldn't say anything of the sort."

"Oh---kay..." Faith asked quietly, determined not to scare her sister. "Where can we find these monks..?"

"You're not buying this..?" Dawn accused her elder sibling.

"I'm just saying - random monks, better option than the Council." Faith replied.

"They're dead... least all the ones I know of." Buffy answered.

"So we're back to the spell." Oz concluded.

"Since when have you started doing spells..?" Willow asked, Faith figured from the sound of her voice that she was starting to have doubts about her resurrection abilities too.

"You taught it me." Buffy replied. "If we can do it again I can prove to you that I'm not lying about any of this."

"What can you remember about the spell..?" Willow asked, trying to wonder if they could figure out which one it was.

Buffy moved closer to Willow and began to inform her of everything she could remember.

The others moved slightly away and began talking to themselves.

"If the spell exists it might go some way to proving she's not **completely **delusional." Oz mused out loud.

"You believe her..?" Dawn turned on the guitarist.

"Not especially." Oz answered truthfully. "But this **is **a Hellmouth."

"We're not taking her word for it." Faith tried to explain to her sister.

"She was talking about someone called Anya and alternate dimensions." Oz faced Dawn. "What if you're **both **right."

Faith and Dawn both returned blanks looks.

Oz continued, "What if Willow brought back the **wrong **Buffy."

Faith looked relieved as Dawn eventually smiled.

"But instead of a zombie-Buffy or all the other bad things we read about duri-" Oz paused, leaving the sentence unfinished. "What if Willow brought Buffy from a world where **she **had the sister."

Dawn crinkled her forehead as she concentrated, "What about all this Glory Key nonsense..?"

Oz could only offer a shrug in response.

Faith pulled the younger woman into a reassuring hug.

"In fact at least some of us are going to need to see this world she's going to show us." Xander reminded the group.

"Definitely." Faith said, arranging it so the two Lehane sisters were facing one another directly. Maintaining eye contact the whole time. "Me and Xander will go with her. Check out this Summers-sisters world."

"Faith you don't have to-" Xander began.

"It's Dawn." She replied with an air of finality. "Or at least an alterno-Dawn." Faith saw the tear begin to form in her sister's eye and quickly pulled her into strong embrace.

"Lehane sisters against the world." Dawn muttered into Faith's shoulder. Briefly reminding Faith of earlier less happy times.

"**Any **world." She replied, clinching tighter.

* * *

_An hour later_

Dawn watched eagerly as they made the finishing touches to the spell. It'd been decided that four of them would go. Buffy, Faith, Xander and Willow.

Oz joined her and the two stood as the rest continued to work. "Between the four of them, they ought to be able to handle anything that other world has."

"They've got two witches, a Watcher and a chipped vampire." Dawn reminded him.

"We've got two Slayers, a witch and a Xander." Oz countered. "And if he's like our Spike, he won't be **able **to hurt Xander."

"They've got their **own **Xander..." Dawn answered. "And that **Anya **person."

"They're not **expecting **us." Oz answered confidently. "Element of surprise and all that."

"You really think it'll be enough..?" Dawn turned to face the werewolf.

"It's their Buffy." Oz explained. "And Willow doublechecked the spell repeatedly. They're **not **moving to a different dimension. They're just removing the veil on this one allowing them to see the truth."

"We hope." Dawn finished as the others signalled they were ready to go.

Oz put his arm around the younger girl's shoulder before turning to the rest of them. "Good luck."

Willow said the final word that would transport them.

Dawn and Oz looked on as the others all remained where they were, all their faces suddenly sprang into life with apparent confusion.

Oz was the first to question it. "Didn't it wor-"

"Whoa- what?" Xander spoke first, stepping backwards while rapidly blinking.

"This is some major freaky shit." Faith followed him, eyes flicking around all four walls of the room.

"This isn't... this isn't **right**." Buffy responded dropping to her knees. "This isn't worki-"

"Xander look out!" Faith shouted, glancing down at his feet.

"Shit." Xander responded automatically, nearly breaking his neck as he tried desperately to twist from where he was heading.

"Xander watch where you're treading!" Willow added. "Don't land on the baby!"

"**Baby..?**" Both Dawn and Oz asked while watching Xander fall over the sofa.

"This room-y-flickering crap's making me ill." Faith informed them, before glancing over towards the doorway to the dining room.

"Ma'am we didn't mean to..." Willow began before holding her hands up. "Sir!!"

Faith moved in her direction quickly. "Don't zap him or anything, Red."

Buffy turned to face the invisible newcomers. "Who..?"

"Buffy talk to them." Willow shouted as she quickly backed off. "Xander move away from the children."

Xander pulled himself to his feet and walked over to Buffy. "Get up. Tell these people who we are."

"I don't know who **they **are." Buffy explained.

Dawn watched as Faith appeared to struggle with a ghost, freeing herself from Oz's grasp she headed towards the others.

"Dawn stay back." Willow shouted at her, "Don't tread on the ba- oh..."

Dawn slowed her run and looked blankly at the empty carpet beneath her.

"Calm down." Faith apparently informed thin air. "I don't want to hurt you."

Willow was still staring dumbstruck at Dawn's feet. Buffy finally pulled herself up off the carpet.

"Don't call her that." Xander addressed the same patch of air Faith had. "It'll only piss her off. Willow end the spell. End the spell **now!**"

"Willow end the spell." Dawn and Oz shouted at the same time, hoping she could hear them.

Willow made a gesture in the air and Dawn watched the aftermath.

Faith fell slightly forward but quickly caught her balance before looking accusingly at Buffy. "What the fuck was **that**..?"

Xander rubbed his elbow as he made his way back to the centre of the room, scrutinising the floor carefully as though it might change and attack him at some point.

Buffy moved quietly back to the sofa and sat down before quietly crying to herself.

Willow remained where she stood, eyes flicking around the room as though trying to get her bearings.

Finally she turned towards Oz, hoping that he had some better explanation that she did. He simply shrugged in response and moved to sit next to Buffy on the sofa.

* * *

_End chapter 7_

* * *

A/n: Well I thought I may as well tackle all the **obvious **solutions first... whistles. 


End file.
